Press Releases

On Thursday, Rep. Ralph Norman (SC-05) and Rep. Gary Palmer (AL-06) introduced a bill in the House of Representatives that would incentivize states to report abortion data to the Center for Disease Control ("CDC").

The Ensuring Accurate and Complete Abortion Data Reporting Act of 2021 would incentivize states to report abortion data – including the number of abortions performed and the number born alive after a botched abortion attempt – to the CDC so that Congress has a better understanding of how effective Medicaid funding has been spent on various family planning programs.

This is a re-introduction of an identical bill introduced by Reps. Norman and Palmer during the 116th Congress. This bill has received support from:

·        March for Life Action

·        National Right to Life Committee

·        U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

·        Susan B. Anthony List

·        Family Research Council

·        House Republican Policy Committee

Rep. Norman issued the following statement on this legislation:

"The true purpose of any family planning program is to promote health, and to help parents manage the number and spacing of their children. Proactively – before pregnancy occurs. If a pregnancy results in an abortion for convenience, it means that legitimate family planning failed in its objective.

"Since tax dollars are being used for family planning programs, we must be able to measure their effectiveness, but we cannot do that without accurate abortion data from the states.

"I want to thank Rep. Gary Palmer for his leadership on this important issue. This legislation will incentivize states to accurately report their abortion data to the CDC, and ultimately help Congress understand how effective taxpayer subsidized family planning programs have been."

Rep. Palmer added:

“We must ensure that states are providing accurate information regarding abortions and the children who survive them. This bill would ensure that states cannot distort or provide faulty data in an effort to cover up the true numbers of innocent lives lost by abortion.”

Background Information:

·        Blog post from Rep. Norman explaining this legislation

·        One pager from the House Republican Policy Committee

Statement from the Family Research Council: “There is a lack of accurate abortion reporting in the United States, making it challenging to enact good policies that protect both women and their unborn children. Most pressing is the need to gather concrete numbers on infants that survive abortion, as only eight states record this type of data. We are grateful to Representatives Ralph Norman and Gary Palmer for their leadership to put real weight behind requiring all states to report accurate abortion data.”

Statement from Susan B. Anthony List: “Our nation’s reporting requirements and statistics on abortion are severely lacking: some states do not require any reporting whatsoever, and only six provide details on babies born-alive after failed abortions. Fuzzy reporting results in a haphazard, incomplete picture of abortion in America. Representative Norman’s commonsense bill incentivizes states to be part of the solution in order to achieve a more accurate, up-to-date picture on how abortion impacts American women and families.”

Original co-sponsors of this legislation in the House include Reps. Aderholt; Allen; Babin; Bacon; Banks; Biggs; Bishop; Boebert; Brooks; Budd; Carl; Cloud; Davidson; Duncan; Estes; Franklin; Gaetz; Gibbs; Good; Grothman; Guest; Harris; Harshbarger; Herrell; Hice; Huizenga; Jordan; Kelly (PA); LaMalfa; Lamborn; Latta; Lesko; Long; Luetkemeyer; McMorris-Rodgers; Mooney; Moore (AL); Murphy; Palazzo; Palmer; Rice (SC); Rogers (AL); Rose; Rosendale; Rutherford; Sessions; Smucker; Timmons; Wagner; Waltz; Weber; Wenstrup; Westerman; Wilson (SC); and Womack.

Media inquiries for Rep. Norman can be directed to Austin Livingston at (803) 833-0030.